Jimmy and I did this very thing Wednesday night (or should I say Thursday morning) and it made for a very out of the ordinary date night in the middle of the week!
For the first time in history, Disney stayed open for 24 hours straight. They did it on February 29th to celebrate Leap Year. My mom told me about this a few weeks ago and I thought it sounded sort of cool. Then I forgot about it until that Wednesday morning as Jimmy and I were preparing for the day.
Now, Wednesdays are always crazy days for us. It is a given that it will be a 12 hour day for Jimmy. When I pick Madi up from school in the afternoon I always go into wonder woman mode, hurrying her home for bath and last minute details just in time to start teaching music lessons which will finish just in time to drop Trevor at Cubbies, Madi at Sparks, and myself at youth group. It is always a later night for our kids to get in bed, and Jimmy and I often go to bed late too as we have what we call "Wednesday Night Syndrome." We come home from youth group with so much adrenaline pumping from the emotional, physical, and spiritual energy spent that it is often hard to wind down, even though we are usually exhausted by such a busy day in the middle of the week.
So when I remembered the "One More Disney Day" event that morning and mentioned on a whim that it would be fun to go after we put the kids down for bed, I wasn't sure if Jimmy would be all about it. To my pleasant surprise, he said he would be up for it if I was! So I called my mom to see what she thought about coming over to watch the kids. It is funny because my mom and I are so much alike in these sort of ways. She loves a good time and a memory made. So when I called her, she acted like it was totally normal to babysit until the wee hours of the morning on a weeknight (I love that about her).
So after a crazy Wednesday, we tucked the kids in bed and snuck out around 9:15 to head to the Magic Kingdom. It felt like we were dating or young married again - back then it would be normal to head out at that hour for a date. Almost seven years into parenting, I usually feel like I'm about to turn into a pumpkin by the time the kids are in bed! So this was fun.
We had no agenda but to check things out and hang out together. When we got there it was packed! They gave us a cool button as we walked into the park, which my Disney loving girl was thrilled to wear the next day to school after we told her about our little adventure. We snuggled on a bench and watched a show by the castle, met up with one of our sweet youth group girls and her sister to watch the midnight electrical parade, and strolled around taking in Disney's late night beauty and all the activity.
After a fun night we arrived back home a little after 2:30 am. Thursday morning we were up and at 'em as usual, and Jimmy even went to an FCA meeting at a local middle school at 7:30 that morning to hear one of our students speak (who he said did an awesome job, by the way)! Then Friday he spoke at an FCA meeting at the high school at 6:30 in the morning! But even though we lost a little sleep, we definitely gained a memory. We are coming up on 11 years of marriage in a few months, and one of the things we have tried to do consistently during these years of always having a full ministry and family schedule is still date each other. Have fun together. Enjoy each other. Break up the mundane with something fun.
This week I was extra blessed. Not only did I get a late night middle of the week date with my husband, but I got another date night with him and some of my best girlfriends and their husbands on Saturday evening! It was my friend Cindy's birthday and my friend Heather's anniversary (and she also has a baby on the way) so we had reasons to celebrate, and celebrate we did over some amazing Polynesian food. We laughed a ton and went home full and happy! I am so thankful for my husband and my friends.
Life and marriage are going to be routine on some level.
Here's to finding ways to keeping it fun and fresh!
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